Meanwhile, in the Mushroom Kingdom
by Goat in the Sewer
Summary: It's been five years since "Princess" Peach and her people fled the surface world. The thing is, it's been five years too many. New challenges arise in a dark and dangerous world as what's left of the Mushroom Kingdom struggles to survive. And as they do, they grieve for what once was... -DISCONTINUED-
1. Five Years in the Making

Five years. It had been five years. Five years since the land had fallen into darkness. Five years since many of Toad Town's residents fled the surface world, preferring the warmth of a monty mole's maze-like world below.

Five years since the Mushroom Kingdom had been taken from her.

Princess Peach, if you could even call her a "princess" anymore, sat down on her bed and combed through a weekly report from her soldiers. After a moment, she put the tiny packet down and fell into the oversized pillows of her tiny bed.

Oh, what was the point?! The soldiers never had anything new to report. They never stayed out there in the dark and cold long enough to tell her anything useful. The only people she could truly rely on were her personal guards, who came to her whenever Princess Daisy, hundreds of miles away in Sarasaland, managed to smuggle supplies to her people. Even then, she didn't come often, and these pointless reports were all that Peach got.

 _I hope Daisy comes through soon,_ she thought, staring at the chocolate cake crumbs on a platter by her bed. She contemplated eating them for a moment. Then, deciding against it, as that would be improper as a "princess", she turned from the platter.

Her people were running low on food. At the rate they were going, the storage would run out in two week's time. Well, that was if they didn't outright deplete it with the feast today.

The last time they had serious a food shortage, which happened about two years ago, the former Toad Town residents rioted. A few even decided this new life wasn't for them and left the Underground.

They haven't been heard from since.

* * *

Peach left her room, feeling that she had moped around enough.

Today was different from most other days. Normally, the tunnel passages would be eerily quiet. People would stay locked up in their rooms unless the princess or Toadsworth said otherwise. So if it were possible for it to be eerily noisy, that was what it was to Peach. As she walked into the Main Hall, she found toads, koopa troopas, goombas… Really, a variable mix of races, all working together to prepare the room.

Paratroopas hung red ribbons from the ceiling. Toads set up tables and chairs in the middle of the room and covered them all in red cloth. Sprixie immigrants followed closely behind the toads, placing plastic red utensils and plates on each of the tables. Last but not least were the goombas, who ran to and fro with platters of food on their heads.

It was truly a spectacle to watch the chaos, even if the overall mood was somber. Most of the people kept their heads down and stayed silent even as their princess walked in.

Five years later, their hearts still ached for the surface world above where it had once been all sunshine and rainbows. And on top of that, when the invaders won…

Peach furiously shook her head at the thought. _No. This isn't a time for mourning._ She couldn't be sad. Not here in front of her subjects.

She made her way to the back of the room. It was there that Toadsworth was, sitting on a stool and shouting commands at the workers.

Also by him was a podium, which she stood behind as she continued to watch the preparations.

"Quit fooling around!" Toadsworth yelled at a goomba who had stopped to chat with a friend.

The goomba jumped. He turned, staring at Toadsworth for a moment.

Toadsworth glared at him and made a head motion towards Peach.

The goomba followed him to her. When his eyes landed on Peach, he gasped. With her now watching him, he turned into a brown blur as he raced into the crowd of workers.

His paratroopa friend awkwardly stood for a few seconds before realizing she should get back to work. She began hanging up the red ribbons once more.

Peach turned to Toadsworth, and him to her.

"Thank goodness you finally came," Toadsworth said. "I couldn't get him to listen to me."

She smiled and turned back to the crowd.

Her people were beginning to file into the room and find their seats. People seemed enthralled by how much red now lined the normally barren and brown Main Room. Other's mouths watered hungrily at the food set before them. There was little difference between them, except for the single figure that took a seat in a far corner of the room.

Peach could easily pick him out of a crowd. For one, he was taller than most of the others in the room. And for two… The man did this whenever he came to the yearly feast. He always avoided conversation by hiding in that specific corner of the Main Room. Nobody really noticed him, especially when someone even more important than him was on their minds.

She gazed over at Toadsworth before she stepped away from the podium.

The elder toad gave her a look of indifference. That meant she was free to do what she wished, at least for now.

The enlarging crowd respectfully parted for Peach as she walked into it. She felt their eyes burrow into her soul. It was a familiar feeling that she knew, yet did not worry about. She became accustomed to it a long time ago. A moment like this wouldn't simply change that.

The man and she were about the same age: twenty-nine. There was a year left before they truly left youth behind. Despite that, the man looked the same as he always did. His brown hair hid under a green cap and he had a dark, well-groomed mustache. He even wore the same clothes that he usually did: blue overalls over a green shirt, brown shoes, pure white gloves, and a green cap with an "L" sitting smack-dab in the middle of it, which he usually didn't abandon unless he was under a power-up's influence.

As Peach came up to him, he kept his head down. He wanted to be alone, sure, but she refused to allow that. He needed somebody to talk to.

When her heels made a final click against the cavern floor, the man looked up. His eyes lit up in fear.

Peach flashed him a warm smile as they made direct eye contact. Perhaps that would calm his nerves?

It didn't. The man was too skittish for that to work. He stuffed himself as best as he could into his corner. As if _that_ would protect him from a pretty princess in pink.

Peach decided that she should speak first, seeing as he seemed so unwilling to. "You decided to come this year?"

He nodded quickly, adding in a "Hm-mh."

"I'm glad you did," she said. "The feast feels empty without you around."

She saw the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "Um, thanks," he said.

Good. She was getting somewhere with him. "Would you like to-"

"Sit up front?" He shook his head. "No thanks."

"I was asking if you wanted to eat," Peach said. Not exactly what she wanted him to do, but oh well. She waved over a young goomba carrying a pile of crackers on his head.

The goomba rushed forward and eagerly offered his plate to the Princess.

She laughed and scooped up a few crackers and tiny slices of cheese. Using a nearby table, she put them together to make cute little cheesy sandwiches.

The man hesitated, but as cheese sandwich after cheese sandwich was made, he edged ever closer to her.

After making fifteen of them, Peach thanked the young goomba and watched him wander off. She fingered one of the sandwiches.

The man picked one up too. Carefully, so as to not disturb his beautifully-made mustache, he bit into it.

It was interesting to watch. Most others Peach knew would've shoved the whole thing into their mouths. And yes, that included Toadsworth **.**

"Have you been well," she asked, "Luigi?"

Hearing his name, Luigi's cheeks grew warm and red. He nodded quickly to her as he swallowed down the sandwich.

"That's good," she said. "I feel better knowing that you're okay."

"Th-thank you, Princess."

The two of them stayed like this for a while, chatting about this and that as the cheese crackers slowly disappeared. Unlike the cheese sandwiches, though, Luigi's nervousness never truly disappeared. He would grow silent when people looked over at him, if only because Peach was there.

Peach could tell that he appreciated her company regardless. They would happily talk of old memories, like the time Bowser came and…

Well, he kidnapped her a lot back then. That time they talked about was no different.

But moving on, they discussed the Darklands' king and how many memories they made through him and soon went on to more… Sensitive subjects, like-

"Princess!" Toadsworth shouted over the crowd as he hobbled over to her table. "We're about to start!"

Peach looked from Luigi's face to the even-shorter man's. She got up.

"We need to cut this short," she said to Luigi. "Are you sure you don't want to join us up there?"

"No thanks," he said. "I'd rather be alone now."

Peach sighed. "Well, if you want to see me again, you know where I am." She turned away from the table.

Toadsworth took that as a cue to go. As he faded back into the crowd…

"Peach?"

She looked back over her shoulder.

Luigi was smiling at her. "Maybe we can talk more over at my place later? I-I could show you something."

This is what caused her to stop in her tracks.

Luigi was a hermit, so of course nobody really knew what he was up to between the yearly feasts. It would definitely be a good time to see him again.

She nodded and said, "I'll see you later, then."

He grinned a bit wider. Then he lowered his head, intending to become invisible in the crowd.

And so the deal had been sealed.


	2. Memories of Years Past

"My subjects," Princess Peach began, "for the past five years, we have been in hiding."

There were whispers in the crowd. She swore she heard a boy grumble, "Duh, of course."

She chose to ignore that and continued on with, "We have had to suffer countless tragedies. Our kingdom was taken, our homes pillaged and burned..." She stopped for a moment as she gazed directly into the crowd. "Our family and friends killed in combat..."

The crowd went quiet. As per tradition, a moment of silence went to those lost before the move to the Underground. But as Peach watched, a few in the audience broke down in tears. All here had a loss to mourn, whether it be their home, their life, family, or friends.

Peach longed to wallow in her own losses. Unfortunately for her, a princess had to keep her composure.

She scanned the room once more for the man in green. Luigi had turned away so that his face wasn't visible to the crowd. Like everyone else, he also lost things on the surface. His home, his ghostly pet dog, Polter, his-

She gritted her teeth. _No. I can't lose it. Not now._

Those in tears were comforted by their other friends and family. A few people even had to be led out of the room because they couldn't contain their emotions.

Once a few minutes had passed, Peach began speaking again."If it hadn't been for Toadsworth's brilliant idea to move underground, we all would've been killed, forced into slavery, or what else they had planned to do to us. And if it hadn't been for M-Ma…"

The audience members all knew who she was talking about. She had difficulty saying his name. She rarely had been able to since that fateful day.

Peach gripped the podium's sides as she tried keeping her cool.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Toadsworth rushing up to her. He tugged on the bottom of her dress. A signal to get out of the public eye _now._

"I-I'm surrendering the stage over t-to Mrs. Koopinstein," Peach said, stuttering through the rest of her speech. "She will now tell you a story."

With that, Peach stepped away from the podium and hurried off to the side of the room. She wiped her eye with a glove.

An elderly koopa got up from a table. She clamored on top of a stool a toad left by the podium and glanced around the room.

Peach found her concerned gaze falling on her last of all. She merely nodded at the elder as she took her own seat in the front row.

And so, Mrs. Koopinstein began:

* * *

 _Eleven years ago, there was a beautiful and kind princess of eighteen years of age. All who lived in the Mushroom Kingdom loved her, even the more vile-hearted of her subjects. And she had just lost her parents to King Bowser._

 _Bowser, who wished to conquer her kingdom, also wanted her lovely hand in marriage. He spirited the poor lady away to the Darklands, a land of fire and brimstone._

 _Scared, the princess called for help. But nobody came._

 _Anyone who could possibly be capable of saving her faced down cruel Bowser and his equally terrifying army, but they were too powerful to stop. Every new challenger was killed by them. If they got as far as the Darklands, their remains were never recovered._

 _With so many deaths, the princess began losing hope. She was alone, she was terrified, and she resigned herself to an unhappy life as Bowser's future wife. Nobody could possibly save her from the evil beast._

 _A week into the invasion, a young man managed to reach Bowser. His main method of fighting the army, jumping upon their heads, was unheard of. It sounded ridiculous, but it worked. He was also an effective fighter, especially when he managed to snag a power-up._

 _This man made his way to Bowser after the maze that was koopa king's castle. Bowser had left a switch on his side of the bridge to drop any invaders into the lava below, yet in a fit of stupidity, or perhaps he was caught up in the moment, he didn't use it._

 _So it came to be that the man hopped over Bowser's head as easily as he had done with the rest of his army, reaching the switch. Before Bowser could react, the man pulled it and the evil king fell to his supposed doom below._

 _The princess was overjoyed._ _With her rescuer cradling her in his arms, they returned home to her kingdom. Once they returned, the princess' subjects threw a massive celebration._ _Demands that they immediately wed reached their ears._

 _Despite this, the man did not wish to be married. He was happy enough to have even saved the princess and settled for being her savior whenever someone, most notably Bowser, threatened her kingdom._

 _Their names? Why, Princess Peach and Mario, of course!_

* * *

A guy's voice hollered from across the room, "OH YEAH!"

Heads turned, but no source was identified. A couple of people, mostly children, laughed.

People also looked over at the princess.

The first course of food had come around mid-story and Peach was now finishing up a plate of lasagna. When she caught their eyes, she quickly wiped her mouth with a red napkin and smiled the best as she could back at them.

 _Keep your cool,_ she reminded herself. The tale wasn't finished yet.

Mrs. Koopinstein went on. Her voice lowered and gained a tone of seriousness. The crowd paid attention to her once again:

* * *

 _Alas, this happy arrangement had to end sooner or later. Five years ago, an evil woman made her way to Toad Town, the Mushroom Kingdom's capital. A long fight between her and our lovely Princess Peach ensued within the castle._

* * *

Peach's eyes glistened as she listened on. _No. Oh no._ She wasn't keeping her cool. She had to! She'd been able to do it before, and she couldn't lose it now. _I have to stay strong!_

* * *

 _Meanwhile, the woman's army marched into Toad Town. These soldiers weren't ordinary men, but beasts of dark, mysterious origins. Wielding the powers of ice and shadow, they massacred all who stood in their way. And as they did, dark clouds blocked out the Sun. Temperatures dropped as heavy snow began to fall._

 _Hearing the citizens scream in terror, Mario raced into the town. He fought the beasts valiantly, even striking some down when others brave enough to fight couldn't. He made his way to the castle, where the mysterious queen of the invaders had knocked down the princess and prepared to finish her off._

 _With a cry of 'Peach!', he attacked the queen._

 _The two of them traded blows, each more damaging than the last._

 _The princess watched from the sidelines as she tended to her wounds._

 _Mario finally managed to strike a blow to the queen's chest that sent her sprawling to the floor. He approached her, a large fireball in hand, seeming as if he would finally finish her off and put an end to the invasion._

 _Sharp icicles clung to his face and body, yet he ignored any pain that they caused him. His hat had fallen to the ground mid-fight, leaving his brown hair a mess._

 _The evil queen laughed. She also ignored the injuries she acquired, focusing on the man in red before her. Her blue armor was dented. The way she slightly cringed as she stood indicated that her ribs had been broken. And worst of all, the left side of her face had melted away from a stray fireball, leaving almost nothing behind._

 _Glaring at Mario, the queen used her magic to summon a spear of pure ice. She got up._

 _Mario jumped back before she could jab at him with it. He still held the fireball, intent on throwing it at her._

 _Fire. That was her weakness. He just had to keep melting her._

 _'Fool,' the queen growled at him, "you underestimate me.'_

 _He said nothing. He glared at her._

 _A blast of icy air blew by. Peach shivered._

 _The icy queen rushed forward. She thrust the spear at Mario._

 _The hero had no time to react. His mouth opened in shock as it hit him, both literally and figuratively._

 _At the same time, a hand grabbed Peach. Its owner screamed for her to run._

 _Princess Peach got to her feet. She looked at the battle one last time._

 _She found Mario sprawled on his side. The deadly point of the queen's icy spear protruded from his back, and there was a pool of red. A_ lot _of red._

 _Peach cried out in terror. She wanted to cover her eyes, but her hands didn't move. She focused on the growing red stain on the floor._

 _The queen stepped forward, grinning._

 _"So would you like to die next, "princess"?" she asked._

 _Peach gaped at the woman, then at her hero._

 _Mario motionlessly laid there. There was no twitching; no open eyes. Perhaps he was already dead._

 _It was the end of an era._

 _The queen laughed as Peach fled from her castle, clutching a toad child in her arms._

 _And to this day, Mario's body has never been recovered._

* * *

Silence filled the room as the storyteller happened upon the last few words of her tale.

It was true. Mario was gone. Even after five years, it was hard to forget all the times he was there to save the day.

A woman in the front row loudly sobbed. Her gloved hands obscured her face, but the Mushroom Kingdomers knew who she was. How could they not?

Princess Peach.


	3. The Letter

"How could you have let yourself go like that?" Toadsworth yelled at Peach. "A proper monarch should keep her emotions in check."

Her shoulders sagged. She leaned against a cavern wall.

Toadsworth was right. She should have survived the story. Before today, she could get through the feasts by smiling and waving at those who looked at her.

Things were definitely different this year.

"I haven't been feeling well, Toadsworth," Peach said.

"Why didn't you say so?" Toadsworth asked. "I would've been happy to fill in for you today."

"Not physically," she said. "I mean emotionally." She pulled herself off of the wall. "To think we've suffered like this for five years straight, and then to find Luigi earlier…" Peach folded her hands together. "It hurts me. I should've helped Mario when he was there fighting that… Lady." She refused to call that woman a queen.

She didn't deserve that title. Not when she stole the Mushroom Kingdom from her and changed it for the worse.

Peach's advisor bowed his head. She waited for him to give her his words of wisdom.

He didn't get a chance to. One of the Main Hall's doors opened.

The two of them glanced over at it.

A man slipped out from behind the door, quickly and quietly shutting it behind him. He wiped the tears from one of his eyes.

Peach spoke when he looked up. "Luigi…?"

Luigi stopped in his tracks and gave her a look that could only be described as deer-in-the-headlights. Then, once he recognized it was yet again the princess, he relaxed.

"You…" Her voice faltered. "You couldn't be in there either, huh?"

He nodded. "Y-yeah," he said.

The two of them stood there in silence.

Toadsworth apparently decided he had enough after about thirty seconds. He hit his staff against the floor.

Both Peach and Luigi jumped.

"I'm going back in," Toadsworth spoke. "Princess, if you will?"

She glanced over at Luigi and said, "Could you go on alone, Toadsworth? I promised Luigi to find him after the feast."

Toadsworth switched his gaze to the green plumber.

He hurriedly nodded.

The elder began stumbling back to the Main Hall doors.

Good. That meant he was letting her go.

"See you later," Peach called after him.

"Be careful," Toadsworth merely replied.

The doors shut closed behind him.

* * *

The room that Luigi had made a home in was as isolated as he was; he lived a remarkably empty section of the Underground. Either he was good at finding spots where he would barely be noticed or his neighbors were some of those who went back to the Mushroom Kingdom a while back. The area, after all, was one of the closer places to the surface.

Peach found herself befuddled by the number of locks he had placed on his door. Many Undergrounders were protective over their rooms, but seeing Luigi like this made her wonder _how_ paranoid they were.

It took some time before he could open all of the locks. When the last one finally fell into his hand, he glanced back at Peach.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"It's okay," she replied. "I could understand if you wanted to protect your…" Her voice faded when she got a glimpse of the room.

Like Peach, Luigi had a single, tiny bed (That he could probably fit in better, no less) and a small dresser. What was different was the amount of _stuff_ he had inside.

Two dressers that Peach almost ran into, one green and one blue, stood by the entrance. She stepped on a familiar-looking carpet of a yellow star surrounded by a pink background as she walked around them.

Shelves sporadically hung around the room. They held random items with no sense of organization. What especially caught her eye was the framed photo of three familiar figures by one next to the bed, surrounded by the room's red and gold wallpaper.

Peach walked up to the photo. She cupped its frame with a hand.

Luigi said nothing as he turned away and focused on one of the shelves.

In the center of the photo was a woman in a pink dress. That was Peach, obviously.

At her sides were two men. One was nearly as tall as her. He wore a green shirt and dark blue overalls. When the photo was taken, he had a small grin on his face as Peach's arm settled on his shoulder, though his hands, folded over one another, indicated that he was uncomfortable. That was Luigi.

The smaller man, wearing a red shirt under his set of light blue overalls, was the exact opposite of his brother. He should have been looking at the camera. However, his eyes had wandered up to Peach mid-snap.

She remembered how the toad taking the photo berated him and how the shorter man laughed it off. He had been too happy for stuff like that to bother him, and she remembered how _she_ had insisted on keeping that photo afterward. She didn't care if the photo wasn't "perfect". It clearly showed that the three of them were happy.

"Princess?" Luigi called.

She snapped out her thoughts.

Luigi was under one of the shelves, holding a glass bottle in his arms. He pulled open the cork and got out a rolled-up sheet of paper.

Peach came to his side.

"I found this a while back," he said, holding it out to her. "I thought you should read it."

She took the paper from him. "Oh, why?" she asked.

It was a letter, and it was addressed to her. And… And she recognized the messy handwriting!

She tensed up.

Luigi did too.

"Should I read it aloud?" she said, glancing at him.

He shrugged. "If you want. I saw that it was for you, from…" His voice trailed off as she sucked in air.

Then:

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _Dear Peach,_

 _Hey. How are you?_

 _It's been a couple of weeks, right? I haven't been able to keep track with all this traveling I've been doing lately. Or maybe the_ lack _of traveling I've been doing? I dunno; Cappy's kept me in the Seaside Kingdom for the last few days. He seems to have a thing for the ocean. Not that I'm complaining; I just wish those snails would quit staring at me whenever I hit the beach._

 _I've seen you around but we haven't really "talked" since that whole thing on the Moon. You're busy with your world tour that, and I'm honestly afraid to personally talk to you. If I bring up what happened at Bowser's "wedding", wouldn't you only get angry? I don't want to upset you again._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

There was a little doodle on the bottom of the page: a blob-like figure wearing a white top hat over its eyes. Next to it was a speech bubble saying, "Hi, sis!"

Peach flipped the paper over.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _Cappy, give me it back._

 _No._

 _Cappy, this is MY letter to MY-_

 _Oh, lighten up a little!_

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Peach and Luigi glanced at each other.

Luigi shrugged.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _He wrote our argument down?!_

 _Well, I'm not going back now. This is probably my thirty-fifth attempt at a letter._

 _As I was trying to say… I'm sorry for everything. The impromptu proposal, letting myself get angry when Bowser cut in… I was being impulsive. I thought 'cause there was a wedding hall right on the Moon and it was all set up, we could use that and, you know, get married. Everyone seems to expect it at this point. I didn't want to let them all down._

 _The way I worded that sounds kinda pushy. Just 'cause they "expect" it?_

 _Is it possible we could chat after you get this? My apology would sound more sincere if you heard it from me instead of this letter._

 _What I really want is to see you again, Peach. You're the reason why I can smile every day._

 _Love,_

 _Mario_

 _P.S. Cappy's holding my hat hostage. Say hi to Tiara for us, alright?_

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Peach lowered the letter from her face as she uttered the last few words.

Luigi looked to the floor.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

Sniffling.

Luigi looked back up.

Peach wiped her eyes. She sniffled again.

He quietly moved closer to her, not bothering to glance at the letter as he put a hand on her shoulder. He offered the glass bottle to her.

She stared at the bottle, then him, and reached over to grab it with the hand not holding Mario's letter. Once she had it, she rolled up the paper.

Luigi handed her the cork.

She plugged the bottle up.

Finally, both of them sat down on Luigi's bed.

Peach rolled the bottle around in her fingers. Her tears were still flowing. She ducked her head.

Luigi put his hands down in his lap. Unlike her, he didn't cry. He was quiet, always preferring to hide away.

 _Could it be,_ she wondered, _that all his tears left him years ago?_

She didn't ask. The last thing they both needed was him getting emotional too.

They sat like this for a long while.

When Peach picked up her head again, she looked to Luigi and whispered, "He was a good man, wasn't he?"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah. Big Bro was the best."

A silence came to blanket them once again.

It stayed that way even when Peach left Luigi's room ten minutes later, clutching the letter in the bottle like if it were her own child.

Luigi watched her go. After muttering a quick "See ya," he shut his door closed.

She began the long walk back to her room listening to her stomach complain, and she thought of her best friend from five years ago.


	4. Daisy

"Princess Peach?" A voice called through her bedroom door.

Peach lifted her head. Her blonde hair fell in a mess of knots around her.

"We have a message for you!" A second voice yelled through her bedroom door.

She groaned, glancing at the clock on her wall. What time was it?

 _Four in the morning?_

The first voice shushed the second, confirming this. "Dude, you'll wake up the whole neighborhood if you keep that up."

 _If he hasn't already_ , Peach thought. She heard her next-door neighbor, an elderly goomba, already shuffling around her apartment.

"This is urgent! Princess Daisy said she needed to-"

She shot out of bed. _Daisy?!_

Yes, _finally._ They could restock their supplies!

After putting on a pair of slippers, Peach threw open her door.

The two Koopa troopas out in the hallway jumped as she appeared before them in a long and breezy pink nightgown.

The first of them was quick to salute her. "Princess!"

The second gaped at her.

"Did I hear 'Daisy'?" Peach asked them.

They both nodded.

"Tell her that I'll be there in a few minutes."

* * *

Peach stepped out of her room once she had combed her hair and slipped on her favorite pink dress. People began coming out of their rooms to stare at her as she passed but they were quickly shooed back in by the guards at her sides.

One part of her wished that guard from earlier hadn't started shouting. Despite this, she kept her head high and avoided eye contact with her subjects.

She went by Luigi's room near the end of her walk. The plumber had come out to watch her. When one of her guards approached him, he moved back into his room.

She smiled as she remembered yesterday. After getting back to her room, she had read Mario's letter over and over. At least until she had fallen asleep. It was still in her unmade bed.

She looked up at Luigi.

He gulped.

"Do you want to come to see Daisy?" she asked him. "I heard you two used to-"

"No thank you." And then he shut the door.

Peach frowned. In the past, there had been rumors of him and her dating. Were none of those true?

 _Maybe I could ask him later?_

She picked up the pace and, after passing a bunch of vacant rooms, found the stairs that led up and out of the Underground; their one and only exit to the surface world.

There were already Sarasalandian men in golden armor carrying wooden crates down the steps. A few stopped to bow to her as they passed by, and she nodded at them to continue on their way.

Finally, they all faded into the caverns, leaving her with a single figure at the bottom of the stairway: a woman clad in gold-colored armor with some orange mixed in. She was one of Daisy's elite guards, whom she had hired after being kidnapped years ago.

Peach felt the heat radiating out of the woman as she came over. _That has to be a fire flower_. There was nobody she knew who could wield fire without one aside from Mario. And she knew that if the guard hadn't been using one, the orange parts of her armor would have grayish. That was the standard Sarasalandian armor.

"Princess?" the guard asked. She ripped off her helmet and scratched at her short black hair.

"Yes?" the princess replied, stopping before her. "Will Daisy be coming soon?"

"She's here and she does want to see you, but…"

Peach frowned. There were times where Daisy had to leave so that she could see that ice queen in the castle. One time, she had said it was to throw her off the Sarasalandian's scent. Was that what she was doing yet again?

The elite guard pulled her hand back out. In her palm was a strange-looking flower. The flower was all round and surrounded by two layers of orange and yellow. Two "eyes" in the center of its white "face" stared at the princess as the guard gave it to her.

She glanced up at the guard in confusion.

The guard moved to the side, leaving the stairs wide open. "Princess Daisy wants to see you outside."

She gaped at her. " _Ou-outside?!"_

In these past five years, she had never been outside! Toadsworth always told her that it was "simply too dangerous". He understandably didn't want to lose the last surviving member of the royal family.

 _Thinking of it, where is Toadsworth?_ Wouldn't he have been informed of the Sarasalandians' coming? _Perhaps it's because I got here first._

Toadsworth _was_ getting old. She had noticed how much slower he had gotten these past five years.

"I can hardly believe it myself," the guard commented. "That snowstorm is brutal right now." She smiled widely. "But our princess is a tough cookie. She loves danger."

"Alright," Peach said. "I'll do it."

The guard nodded and said, "More of Daisy's elites will greet you at the top and lead you to her once you're ready."

"Thank you," she replied. She squeezed the fire flower.

A warm feeling traveled up her arm and throughout her body. When it subsided moments later, she looked herself over. The fire flower had disappeared and her pink dress had been completely replaced by a pure white one aside from this one little red stripe near the bottom.

Along with this, her long blonde hair had been tied into a ponytail by a plain red band. She had no idea what caused that, as it went away once she was either hit or finished with the power-up, but it sure helped whenever she needed to focus on combat.

As long as she had the fire flower's magic, though, she could survive the cold night air.

Smiling, Peach made her way up the steps and left the Underground for the first time in five years.

* * *

The winds whipped up in a frenzy as Peach and the Sarasaland soldiers marched through a hastily-melted path through the snow. Part of the pink princess wondered why Daisy couldn't have waited until the snowstorm had calmed down for the night. This was dangerous!

But then she remembered that this was _Daisy_. As the elite guard had said, she liked danger. Her father allowed her to go on frequent adventures around the globe. He wasn't a worrywart like Toadsworth, even after she got kidnapped once.

"Peach!"

She looked up.

A blur of red rushed towards her.

She braced for the impact.

A guard in the corner of her eye smirked. She knew what was about to happen.

Daisy nearly knocked Peach down as she squeezed her in a tight hug.

Peach yelped in surprise.

"Long time, no see!" Daisy shouted.

"I was wondering when you would come," Peach said.

Daisy stepped back from her.

Peach looked her friend over.

The fire flower's magic had turned Daisy's normally orange dress a bright red. A pair of simple brown boots crunched the snow below her.

 _Perhaps I_ _should've worn boots too,_ Peach thought, glancing down at her heels. Unfortunately, it was too late to turn around.

"How ya been?" Daisy excitedly said. "Father's sent me to Bonneton on a diplomatic mission, I visited Isle Delfino on a diplomatic mission, Tostarena was another one of those-" She stopped and laughed more. "Well, let's say I've been places. Father's trying to sign this ridiculous new trading tax thing into law, so I've had to go negotiate with literally everyone. I…"

Peach often wondered if Mario would have been better off with Daisy. The two of them were pretty energetic, and Mario, funnily enough, had that same habit of going off on tangents every once in a while-

 _You knew that he loved you,_ she told herself. _Stop it._

Daisy has noticed her friend's hesitation and stopped talking. She frowned at her. "You okay?" she asked. "If this is about not getting the supplies in before yesterday's feast, sorry, but _one of the guards on my team_ nearly got us killed at sea." She glared behind her.

A man in silver and orange armor laughed nervously and stepped away from the two.

"Perhaps I should fire him later," Daisy said.

"Don't worry," Peach said. "We had a fine feast." She watched a few men carrying more crates go past them. "You're helping us replace the supplies we lost during it. I'm grateful for that."

Sarasaland's princess sighed.

Peach looked back at her and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm just not sure how much longer we can keep this up."

She put a hand to her mouth. "What do you mean? Has the queen found out-"

"No, it's not that," Daisy began to walk away. She motioned for her to follow.

Peach dashed as best as she could in heels after her.

The Sarasalandian guards did nothing to stop them. They trusted their princess to keep safe.

After walking for a bit, the two royals found a large rock covered in snow.

Daisy went up to it and tilted her head. She put a gloved hand on its surface and felt around it. "Know how I said I've been going on diplomatic missions?"

"Yes?" Peach glanced at the rock. It was big enough for both of them to sit on provided they melted the snow off. She walked up to it and summoned a ball of fire.

"Nobody's been happy lately," Daisy said.

Peach silently melted the snow where she wanted to sit.

Daisy summoned her own fireball. "Did you know that the queen's eternal night and snow are slowly expanding outside of the kingdom?"

Now Peach's gaze couldn't help but shoot towards her. "Wait, really?'

She nodded. "Yeah. We've been having our troops monitor your kingdom from the air for the past few months."

"And you haven't been telling me this why-"

"This big cloud cover of snow and darkness," she said, gesturing at the sky, "has started creeping up on nearby areas, like Evershade Valley. That place already has eternal night, but they'll be getting snow one of these days." She thought for a moment. "I've been wondering how the ghosts would cope with the cold. Or that weird old man there. I don't understand what the Mario Bros see in him."

Peach covered her mouth with a hand. Now, this was news!

"Everyone's getting nervous. If that cloud keeps expanding, more people will have to deal with this!" Daisy said, folding her arms. "Something must be done about that invader. Seriously, if she thinks of threatening Sarasaland and Tostarena, I'm personally taking my army and marching on her castle."

Peach settled on the rock. She stared at the ground.

"Well?" Daisy said.

"Daisy," she said, "you can't-"

"I will if I really want to."

"You would get yourself hurt or _killed_. If Mario, one of the fabled star children, died trying to fight the ice queen-"

"Khione," Daisy broke in again.

She blinked, and said, "Huh?"

"Her name is Khione." The sand princess said. She frowned at her. "You didn't know that?"

"Well, no…"

A white castle covered in clear blue ice stood over all else in the distance. It unnerved Peach to think that woman- That _Khione_ lived just above them.

"Tha-that's ridiculous!" Daisy sputtered. "Your kingdom was invaded by an evil sorceress who killed your best friend and nobody's bothered to learn her _name_?!"

She stayed silent. That was silly now that she thought about it.

"How often do you get news from the surface?"

"Only through you. My soldiers are afraid of being out here for more than a few minutes at a time."

Daisy sighed. She shot a fireball at the rock Peach sat on. When the fireball landed, the snow under it instantly dissipated and left an empty gray surface behind. She sat down next to her fellow princess.

The snow that fell on and around the two princesses quickly evaporated from heat their fire flowers granted them. Peach had to admit: it was nice to have a change of setting. Staying in a stuffy cave got boring after a while, and she rarely got fresh air.

"Peach," Daisy said suddenly. "I want to help you."

"Huh?" The princess in pink said. She turned to face her.

Sarasaland's princess bizarrely smiled. "I've been thinking about it, and I've finally decided that I want to stay here. I want to help you fight Khione."

"What?" she gasped. "Why?

"You're my friend and one of our kingdom's closest allies, even if your men couldn't hold back a giant turtle who used to kidnap you once a month."

"What about your family and people back home?! What if you _die_?"

"Then the Sarasalandians will strike back even harder." Daisy's smile grew into a smirk. "I already told Father this is what I wanted to do. I'm sure that he'd have my back if I stayed here, as would the rest of my country. None of us can stand watching you guys suffer.

Peach stood up. "We can't possibly fight the ice queen even with your help. The day the ice- _Khione,_ I apologize, marched on our kingdom, she massacred my people. She didn't even allow us to bury the dead; we had to flee her brutality." She glared at her. "I don't even know what happened to Mario's _body,_ Daisy!"

Daisy got up as well. "Peach, I'm hanging around whether you like it or not," she said. "I'll help you reclaim what's rightfully yours." The princess of Sarasaland turned on her heel and marched back towards the entrance to the Underground. She began barking orders at her men and grabbed the end of a particularly heavy box to help drag into the Underground.

Peach was left alone to glance at the snow.

For these past few years, she had avoided any sort of conflict with that woman- Er, Khione. Maybe Daisy was right after all. They had to start fighting back. They had to reclaim Peach's birthright, the Mushroom Kingdom.

Sighing to herself, Peach got up and waved down a group of guards carrying another heavy box. The least she could do right now was help them out.


	5. Waluigi Time!

The woods were quiet.

Waluigi frowned and shifted the backpack sitting over his heavy winter coat.

He had expected those weird colorful ghosts, maybe even the boos, to be around today. Guess they didn't want to come out, seeing as how cold it had gotten recently. There weren't many who could stand this weather without a fire flower.

There recently had been rumors that Khione's eternal snowstorm was expanding after five years of sitting over the Mushroom Kingdom. That seemed true what with the past week Waluigi and his friend, Wario, had spent exploring Evershade Valley.

If the temperature continued to drop, Waluigi doubted he could survive it. He didn't like the cold. Unfortunately, neither he or Wario had found any fire flowers on their treasure hunt thus far, and their previous ones had been lost fending off a pack of hungry Monty moles a day ago.

Ugh. Wario had told him that they were ridiculously easy to find around these parts. All Waluigi saw instead were dead plants and trees. It all was dead. He hated how dead it was. It made him miss the eggplant garden he had once upon a time. Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead.

 _"This is all that stupid Mario's fault,"_ he remembered Wario scoffing. _"I wouldn't be freezing if he killed that Khione woman."_

The red plumber, the "savior" of the Mushroom Kingdom, had failed to protect his kingdom. The surface dwellers knew and loathed that. Many said that he barely lasted three minutes against Khione before falling. That was in contrast to his many fights with Bowser, where the two could usually go on for ages before either one fell.

Now, if he had been in Mario's position (Which he should have been. Waluigi obviously trumped that tiny, chubby plumber in looks and personality!), Waluigi would've burned Khione to death. Really, wasn't she made out of ice? He had never seen her before, but from what descriptions he'd gathered, she definitely was.

 _Idiot,_ Waluigi thought.

Anyway, Mario was long gone. Why should he even think about him? In fact, why wasn't Waluigi focused on his rivalry with Luigi?

He would be if Luigi hadn't disappeared underground along with many of Toad Town's residents after they lost their number one hero. The last those on the surface heard from them was that they were preparing a feast for the five-year anniversary of Mario's "tragic" death.

And here we go again with Mario. Things always came full circle back to him, didn't they?

"I hate my life," Waluigi growled to himself.

He failed to take into account, deep in his thoughts, how a cliff was up ahead and how close he was to its edge.

Wario glanced up at the last possible second from his treasure map to see his friend there. He yelled at Waluigi, "Hey, get away from there!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Too late.

Wario scrambled to the cliff's edge. If Waluigi died, who would carry his stuff? Would the supplies he was already carrying survive?

"Hey, can you hear me?!" he yelled.

He got no response back.

Wario studied the rocky wall below. Was there a way down?

Well, no. But he _was_ greeted by a tree instantaneously exploding into a bloom of orange leaves.

Somewhere down below, Waluigi screamed as the tree madly rustled, somewhat breaking his fall.

Wario screamed as well, but that's not important, is it? This was a Waluigi chapter!

* * *

"He's not dead, right? I'd hate to dig another poor soul's grave."

Waluigi groaned in pain. Surprisingly, he was alive.

"Yep, not dead!" a second voice said. "Out of it's more like it."

Now he gritted his teeth. That second voice had to be a toad. One couldn't possibly mistake their raspy voices for anything else.

Waluigi opened his eyes and looked up at the two small figures in front of him.

As he always was, he was right about the second speaker: in front of him was a blue-vested, red-spotted toad. He looked no different than the other blue-vested, red-spotted toads of his race. Did they not know anything about individuality?

The old man next to him didn't seem as generic-looking. He was obviously a human since Toads didn't have ears, but he was as short as a Toad. As Waluigi watched him, he pushed up his glasses.

"It's not every day youngsters come falling down here," the old man said. "Or for that matter…" He glanced behind him.

Waluigi completely doubted his assessment of him. He sounded like a Toad.

"Where am I?" he groused.

"You fell from up there," the Toad answered, pointing up at the sky.

"I'd say the cliff," the man said.

"Oh, right," the Toad laughed nervously. He shrank back.

"I'm Waluigi," the lankier of the trio said, sitting up. "Where's Wario?"

The man stared at him for a moment. "Luigi?" he said. "That can't be you. You'd have a better mustache."

"No, I said WAH. WAH-Luigi. And I obviously have a better mustache than that freak. Don't deny it."

"You came here with Wario? Not Mario."

"Yes," Waluigi growled. "Have you gone deaf, old fart?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Now quit insulting me and get up."

Waluigi glared at him. A gust blew by him, ruffling the tree's branches above. An orange leaf detached from one of the tree's lower branches and floated down.

He glanced up at it and the tree. Last he remembered, the valley had no living plant life. There hadn't been any sunlight for them to feed on ever since this area became covered in darkness hundreds of years ago.

"What the…" he said, his eyes widening.

"It exploded when you fell down here!" the Toad exclaimed.

"Bloomed, you mean," the older man said, wrapping his white lab coat around himself.

"Yeah, yeah," the Toad said, scratching behind his mushroom cap. "It really did! Are you magic, Mr. Waluigi?"

Waluigi grinned at being called "mister". He didn't have that happen to him often! Children tended to spit on his shoes.

He scratched his chin. "Hm, well…".

He wouldn't say he was magic, though Waluigi _was_ awfully good with plants. He yet again remembered watching his eggplant garden thrive. He sure did miss it.

Making a dead tree bloom, though? That was a first. Perhaps he _was_ magic and he never realized it!

"Can I say yes?" he asked. 'Cause hey, why not? Maybe he wasn't a star child, but having powers would be awesome! Maybe he would finally be recognized for something!

The man laughed. "Now, now, Hob. There must be a scientific reason for this! This particular tree was blessed with the ability to bloom every one hundred years. Perhaps…"

He promptly went on a tangent, which Waluigi immediately blocked out. He was magic! Why this strange new power hadn't manifested until now, he had no idea, but _yes_!

Waluigi widely grinned.

Hob shrugged and picked up a bright green leaf from the ground. He grinned as well. "Gadd's weird. Don't mind him."

Now Waluigi looked at the old man with increased interest.

Gadd? Like, Professor E. Gadd? That guy who Luigi used to blab about? He never expected him to be _old._

"HELP ME!"

Waluigi's gaze shot up to the sky.

Falling towards the group was Wario.

Hob gasped and darted forward.

Waluigi snickered. Funny how a tiny toad intended to save Wario, while he made no move to help his friend. He knew that he would survive the fall.

Wario was one of the seven known star children, after all. They were known for living through normally nasty things with barely a scratch. Some of them even had "normal" and "tiny" forms when they were hit hard enough, an ability that only toads were once known to possess. There was also the fact that Mario, the strongest of them all, once survived the end of the universe!

 _Damn it, Mario!_ Waluigi wished he would leave his head already.

Despite all that star child stuff, Wario seemed rattled once he hit the ground, mere inches from Hob's little arms.

The toad screamed as he gazed upon Wario's unmoving body. He most likely thought that he was dead.

Waluigi wished that he had earplugs.

"Hey!" Wario growled. His voice was muffled by his buried face. "Quit that, will ya?!"

Hob squeaked and backed away from him.

Wario sat up and rubbed his right arm. "Ow. Think I fell on it." He bent and unbent it. "Doesn't look broken."

"Good for you," Waluigi muttered.

"I assume you're Wario?" Gadd asked, having stopped his rant as soon as Wario had plummeted down. "You really do look like an exaggerated Mario."

"And?" Wario snapped at him. He then glared at Waluigi. "Why'd you have to fall down here? We could've been steps away from the treasure!"

Waluigi bent backward like a reed in the wind and narrowly missed the frustrated punch thrown by him. He laughed as Wario retracted his fist.

"Weheh!" the purple man said. "You missed!"

But Waluigi, being the universe's eternal buttmonkey, promptly got socked in the stomach by another angry fist. He went flying across the ground and landed with an "Oof!"

Now Wario was the one laughing. He began advancing on Waluigi.

While the two continued this sport of theirs, they didn't notice the bare ground turning a pure green color around them.

* * *

Hob shrank back from the pair of arguing men. "Professor, these guys are scaring me…" This was coming from a kid who spent his days living amongst the long-dead ghosts of Evershade Valley while working for an often-called-crazy scientist-man. Interesting.

Gadd decided to pay no heed to the trio. He stared up at the tree again.

This being science or not, he had a hunch that things were about to get wacky.


	6. At the Lab

Professor E. Gadd squinted at the green leaf Hob had picked up earlier, even taking his glasses off as they had been "getting in the way". He went between it and a book in his lap often, muttering stuff to himself.

Waluigi didn't see the point to it. It was just a leaf. One he'd brought back to life with his new powers, but still. That was all it was to him.

The group had retreated to the small, clean and rather disgustingly-green underground bunker where the old professor lived. From there, they had gone off to do their own things. Waluigi warmed himself up by a heater, Gadd was reading, Hob also read a book… That looked a lot like a children's book, what with the unicorn on the front, and Wario shamelessly raided a small fridge across the room.

With it having been ten whole minutes since he started sitting by the heater, Waluigi got up. He wandered over to Gadd.

"Hey, do you have anything interesting to do around here?" he asked the old man.

"Books," Gadd said. He flipped over a page in his textbook, as he did with the leaf.

"That's not interesting." That and Waluigi absolutely hated libraries. The last time he and Wario visited the one in Toad Town, Khione's forces nearly arrested them for literally packing heat (And extra-smelly garlic farts, as the queen's soldiers found out during the duo's daring escape).

"You can help yourself to the fridge," Gadd said. "I still have a jar of diesel marinade."

 _What the heck's diesel marinade?_ Whatever it was, Waluigi pointed out, "Wario's probably eating it all."

"Sure am!" Wario shouted. He held up a jar a weird green looking stuff. "Want some, Wally?" His large hand was digging around inside, clawing at even darker green things that stuck to the jar's sides.

"Not when you're sticking your grubby hand in there!" Waluigi shouted. Diesel marinade looked gross anyway. He'd rather stick to what remained of his Sarasaland-imported eggplants.

"Eh, fine," Wario said. He threw the jar back into the fridge. "Tastes disgusting anyway." He wiped his mouth with one of his gloves.

Hob grimaced and said, "Sir, the yellow guy ate through half our stock."

Wario ignored that and waddled on over to the group. "My buddy's right, old man," he said. "You've got nothing to do here. I've got no idea _why_ we're even here." He folded his arms. "We were so close to finding that thing on the map."

With that, he reached behind him and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Ew!" Hob cried. "He just pulled it out of his-"

The textbook in the professor's lap slid off and crashed to the floor.

Everyone stood around in absolute silence.

Gadd hopped out of his chair to pick his book back up. He turned his head towards Hob.

The toad swallowed. "So-sorry, sir."

The professor turned away from him and faced Waluigi. "Sonny, I've come to conclude that-"

Waluigi interrupted him. "That I have magic powers?"

"Erm…" He was hesitating. Not good.

Oh, how Waluigi wished it to be true! He had always wanted something to help him stand out from the crowd. _Please let this be my big break!_

"You?" Wario said. "Magic?" He reached up to poke Waluigi's chest. "Since when?"

Waluigi grabbed his finger before he could. "Shut it, Fartio." He wasn't going to let Wario push him around. _Not this time._ He had to be awesome somehow. He _needed_ to be!

Gadd shut his book closed. "I've come to conclude that the tree bloomed by itself, which it does every one hundred years. This is due to a blessing put on it before Evershade Valley became, well, Evershade Valley. You lads were just in time to witness it, as were Hob and I."

Waluigi blinked a few times. His gaze became trained on the professor.

"Sorry, my boy," Gadd said. "You aren't magic. Humans usually aren't."

Waluigi blinked some more. No.

 _No._

 _Nononononononononononononononono!_

Wario began laughing. "Haha! Knew you were a loser."

The tall purple man curled his hand into a fist. With a cry of "Wah!", he brought it down to his "friend's" face.

A scream tore through the bunker. Unfortunately for Waluigi, it did not belong to Wario.

"WAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

"I can't believe it," Waluigi groused, cradling his bandaged fist.

"Do you feel okay?" Hob asked. He opened a nearby drawer and tossed a roll of white bandages inside.

He frowned at him. "Do I look like I've ever been okay?" he said.

Hob stared at him.

"Exactly."

Meanwhile, Wario and Professor E. Gadd read off the treasure map Wario had. Gadd shook his head, while Wario's eyes narrowed. The latter's large teeth rubbed and audibly clacked against each other.

"Looks suspicious, sonny," Gadd said. "'Specially if it's leading to Evershade Valley of all place." He then turned to Hob and asked, "When was the last time we checked on the boos?"

Hob frowned. "Last, um, month maybe?" he said.

The professor's mouth opened slightly. He kept his gaze on the toad. "And you haven't been reminding me, why…?"

Hob gulped.

"Honestly, Hob!" he shouted at him. "I've been losing my mind lately and you said you'd help me keep on top of everything. What if- Wh-what if…" He hesitated.

Hob lowered his head.

"You're going downstairs to check on them right now," Gadd said. He reached for a green lever at his side. "If anything has happened, scream."

Hob nodded quickly and braced himself as the professor pulled down on the lever.

Waluigi jumped back from Hob. The floor opened up beneath him.

Despite what Gadd told the toad, he screamed as he fell to an unknown world below. Then the chute closed behind him.

Waluigi sighed in relief. He shoved his fist underneath his armpit.

"I apologize for that," Gadd said. "The people I hire sometimes can be as clueless as I am of things."

"You keep boos?" Wario asked.

"Yes," he replied. "It's so that they don't cause the kingdom any more trouble. However, their king somehow escaped about three years ago." He examined Wario's map again. "I wonder if he has got anything to do with this."

"Why do you say that?" Waluigi asked.

"He pulled the same trick on the Mario Brothers some nine or ten years ago. I helped them get out of that pickle."

Wario and Waluigi silently met eyes.

 _Those two have been here before,_ Waluigi thought.

No wonder why the professor had been perplexed by their names earlier. He personally knew them!

"You see, Mario ended up being captured by the king of the boos. Luigi came looking for him..."

"I don't wanna hear about that loser!" Waluigi suddenly shouted.

That didn't stop Gadd's little story of how Luigi saved his older brother with a modified vacuum cleaner. He did, however, earn a slap on the back for his outburst from Wario.

* * *

Wario and Waluigi decided to head back to Toad Town. They were running low on supplies and Wario didn't want to chance an encounter with this "King Boo".

Professor E. Gadd allowed the duo to stay the night, but they rejected his offer. They were used to sleeping out in the open by now, and if Waluigi heard _one more story_ about that _stupid Luigi_ …

"Who's staying up tonight?" Waluigi asked as he sat over a small campfire. He put away the lighter he had used to ignite it.

He already knew the answer. It would be him. It was always him. Wario would fall asleep if he kept watch.

"You, of course," Wario said, wrapping a woolen blanket around himself. "Now shut up."

Waluigi sighed and wrapped his arms around his knees.

Once, just once, did he wish that Wario would be considerate enough to let _him_ sleep. Ever since the start of their latest adventure, he had barely gotten any. Ugh. And people always wondered why he always had those weird blue bags under his eyes.

Wario snored. He turned over on his side.

Waluigi put his hands to his ears. He felt the bandages on his right hand scrape against his skin.

This was going to be a _long_ night.


	7. Meanwhile, in the Darklands

"KAMEK!" King Bowser shouted. "COME HERE AT ONCE!

A small, figure in a blue robe instantly flew into the throne room on a wooden broom. He came to a complete stop before adjusting the glasses above his snout.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Kamek said.

"How's the search going?" he asked.

"Which search? The one for your son or for _her?_ "

"I DON'T CARE!"

Kamek gulped. "We-well, your majesty, we haven't made any progress," he said. "You called me in here to ask the same question an hour ago."

Bowser shifted himself into a more comfortable position on his throne and sighed. The past few weeks, for him, had been absolute hell. His son, Junior, just turned twelve when he disappeared from the Darklands. There _were_ signs as to where he went; the Koopalings, who saw Junior in the hours before he disappeared, had pointed their king towards Khione's territory.

Queen Khione's blizzard was vicious, though. It would be too dangerous to take an airship there. The weather was _much_ worse than that time he took one to that stupid snow kingdom with those polar bear guys, and Khione would probably launch an attack the moment she was notified of Bowser's coming. So the search for Junior hit a dead end.

As for _her_ , they knew _exactly_ where she was, but they had no reliable way of getting to her. _She_ was vital to his plans for the Mushroom Kingdom.

King Bowser met Kamek's eyes. "Well," he said, "why are you sitting there for?! Go check on the team looking for my son again!"

"Yes!" Kamek replied, throwing his leg back over his broom. "Right away!"

He flew through the throne room doors. Two other servants, both Koopas, nervously eyed their king as they slammed the doors shut behind him.

Bowser got up from his throne, grunting. His leg bones crackled as they were forced to support his weight.

A small, gold-plated table stood beside his large throne. On it was a white bandana with a toothy mouth hastily drawn on. The king smiled as one of his giant clawed hands picked it up. After Junior had turned ten, he had decided that he hated the bandana. It was, in his own words, "too childish". As much as his dad agreed with him, it held tons of memories behind those blood-red lips and white teeth.

He vividly remembered the first adventure he had ever taken his son on. They went on a vacation to Delfino Isle, and his son had drawn on his newly-acquired bandana in an effort to intimidate Bowser's number one rival, Mario. It had been, perhaps only in Bowser's eyes but he didn't care, absolutely adorable.

But times changed. Junior came to hate the bandana. He wasn't much of father's boy now either. He often caused trouble for both his father and his army, pulling senseless pranks and stealing rations to gorge on late. This latest stunt of his only highlighted his new nature.

It was only natural, Bowser guessed. Children someday grew up and sought more independence. However, that didn't mean that Junior could run off on his own without telling him!

Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the ground before him glow a purplish color. An eyeblink later, a small, dark-hooded figure appeared from thin air.

Bowser blinked again, but his neutral expression didn't change.

"It's you," he said.

The figure nodded and cheerily said back, "It's me!"

"If you're here," he said, "it must be because..."

"I've come to ask about _her."_

Bowser's steps pounded the ground as he walked forward, and passed the figure. He gestured at her to follow.

"Well," he said, "let me tell you what's happened since you last visited."

* * *

The sun had begun to set over the Darklands as Bowser and his new companion made their way out on to a balcony. From here, they could see the dozens upon dozens of volcanic mountains that surrounded the castle.

"You found her again?!" the figure asked excitedly for the hundredth time, coming to stop at the railing. "You honestly, sincerely did?"

"Yeah," he finally said. He leaned forwards against on the railing and grinned toothily at her. "Kamek picked up another signal."

She gasped and reached out for his large, scaley arm. "Please. You _must_ tell me."

Bowser paused as he looked down at the shadowy hand touching him. His eyes wandered further up to her face. It reminded him a lot of Peach's, and it would've looked a lot more like her's if it weren't for her glowing red eyes and the gleaming white fangs that stuck out of her mouth.

Careful to not dig his claws into her delicate skin, he plucked her hand off of him. "I had him use a powerful spell to summon a warp pipe to her world, but he nearly died from the energy cost. Wherever she lives, it's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away from here."

She opened her mouth, but he spoke before she could:

"Not only that, but I sent her a little gift," Bowser said. "Remember that red hat Mario loved?"

"Yes?"

"We put an enchantment on it so that we know where she is at all times. I've been checking on her for the past few days-" _Wait. Maybe I should…_ "KAMEK, I NEED YOU AGAIN!"

His trusty court wizard instantly popped into existence before him. "Ye-yes, my king?"

"I'd like to show Morgan the girl."

"Yes," Kamek replied. "Right away."

He waved his wand a little, chanted something in a strange language that Bowser never understood, and a ball of light appeared before King Bowser and the woman. It slowly expanded until they saw-

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _The scene was a small bedroom. The hat, its red brim taking up the bottom half of the image, sat on a table. Across the room from it was a bed where a body laid, slowly rising and falling with every breath._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Bowser leaned closer to the projection and squinted. His companion followed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _It was a girl who slept soundly in that bed. She laid underneath a heavy blanket. She had a pale face framed by light brown hair._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Is that her?" Morgan asked, leaning towards the image.

"Yeah," Bowser said. "We finally know what she looks like."

"She looks rather young," she said. "...And she's twitching in her sleep."

As they watched, one of her arms escaped from its soft, warm prison and hung over the side of the bed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _"Okay," she sleepily mumbled, "let's fight, you stupid turtle."_

 _With that, her hand exploded into flames._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Morgan gasped.

Bowser's eyes went wide. Since when did she start developing powers? And the "turtle" part…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _The girl thrust her arm out and grabbed at the air._

 _"Princess…" she mumbled._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The projection faded as Kamek yawned.

"Alright," Bowser said. "I guess that's enough. Get some sleep soon, Kamek."

"Yeah," he sleepily said. "After I see that team you ordered me to find in the first place."

He then flew off, leaving Bowser and his female companion alone once again.

"I hope she doesn't set her room on fire," Morgan said.

Bowser turned around and started to walk away. "I'm sure she'll be fine." He smiled at her again. "All we gotta do now is find a way to bring the girl here without killing my best court mage. He's been overworked lately."

The woman bit her lip as they went back inside the castle. She crossed her arms and made a "Hm…" sound.

They walked down a hallway for some time before she spoke again. "Have Kamek send me the pipe spell he used once he has had some rest. Perhaps I can modify it to work without the massive energy drain."

"Do you really think that you could do that, Morganthia?" Bowser asked.

"Of course!" she said with a quick nod. "I'm not one of Khione's best mages for nothing." She turned towards him. "Keep an eye on that girl too. If she _is_ the one we've been looking for, she'll be developing more star child abilities soon."

He nodded back. "Understood. Just… I've got one more thing to show you before you go."

"Oh, really?"

Bowser turned to a lowly goomba servant who had been walking down the hallway towards them.

The goomba froze. His tiny little foot hung in midair as he made eye contact with his boss.

"Hey, you!" Bowser said, stepping forward. "Fetch the toothbrush!"

He gave him a blank stare.

"You know, the one that came flying out of the pipe from the other world!"

The goomba continued standing there. He blinked once.

Bowser took in a deep breath and then exhaled. _Gotta control my temper…_ "Fine, I'll find it myself," he said, turning back to Morganthia. "BUT THERE IS A TOOTHBRUSH!"

She flinched and laughed nervously. "Yes, yes. I guess there is…"

Bowser flinched himself upon seeing her reaction. He scratched his head. "Sorry."

"You're fine, King Bowser. Remember to take some more deep breaths next time."

"Yeah," he said. "I'll try to remember that."


	8. The Beanbeaner Airship

Warm plumes of smoke bathed the area. Most within its vicinity groaned in pain. They were not used to heat like this. Others, though, like Princesses Peach and Daisy, willingly peered in the airship's direction as it settled upon the ground.

The warm air quickly dissipated, leaving Peach shivering. She wrapped her red cloak around herself. Her hand clasped the golden button that connected the cloak with a similarly red-colored hood. Daisy had encouraged her to wear clothing that would look more "stealthy" but she had refused. Red (And pink!) was more of her color. It was much more vibrant to her; a bright spot in the drabby world she now lived in.

The raiding party that Peach and Daisy brought with them peered over a mountain of cardboard boxes. Upon seeing the shadowy beasts that crowded the Beanbean airship, a few members of the party ducked back behind the boxes to share wide-eyed stares. A man, in particular, met Peach's eyes and started edging away from the boxes.

Daisy reached back and grabbed him by the arm.

The man's eyes widened further. He shook his head.

Her grip tightened. She shook her head back.

"Don't run, Luigi," she whispered. "If you go, they'll hear you."

With his teeth chattering, he nodded and reluctantly rejoined the group.

Peach felt a twinge of pity for him. Daisy had insisted that they bring him along.

 _"It_ has _been a few years since Luigi's been in a fight,"_ she had said, _"but you're better off with him than nothing."_

Peach agreed with her. Five years ago, Luigi fought alongside his brother against evil. He possessed tons of potential but never tapped into it because of how versatile his big brother had been. He was, in essence, if not in spirit, a lot like Mario, and that was why she brought the shaking, nervous man along.

A large door on the bottom of the airship opened up and a set of stairs were flung down. It landed with a glass-like _ding_ against the hard floor.

A small figure with short blond hair and noticeably Beanbeanish green skin stood at the top of the steps. Peach squinted at them.

"Prince… Prince Peasley?" she whispered to Daisy.

Luigi instantly straightened his back. He leaned forward.

Daisy nodded. "Yep," she said. "Now we wait."

One of Khione's beasts, a wolf-like beast walking on two legs, lumbered up the steps. It growled at Peasley.

Peasley nodded at it. He stepped aside.

The wolf turned and howled at its fellow creatures. It then dashed into the ship.

The other beasts headed for the doors leading out of the airship containment area. The rest spread themselves out throughout the area, their footsteps shaking the ground around them.

When the creatures were spread out enough, Peasley looked straight ahead. His hand slowly reached down to the sheathed sword buckled to his waist.

"That's the signal," Daisy said. "Let's move."

"Signal?" Peach asked, glancing between her and the prince.

"Walk fast," she said, pointing at the light coming from the airship, "but stay in the light. The beasts won't detect you if you do. They can only see in the dark, and will not think much of the occasional shift in the dark if your shadow's primarily on that strip."

"Alright," Peach said, nodding. "Let's do it."

She stepped into the strip of light and clenched her fists. She looked over at the group.

Daisy pushed Luigi out from behind the boxes. He fell into the strip with an "Oof!"

Daisy followed shortly thereafter.

When Luigi got up, the rest of the party, a few paratroopas, joined them.

Peach constantly glanced over her shoulder as the group walked in nearly a straight line. She watched as her and the other's shadows phase between light and darkness and silently prayed to any gods who could be listening that they all would reach the ship without incident.

Prince Peasley smiled widely at the group when they finished climbing the stairs. He was dressed in the same bright white tunic and red cape Peach remembered him wearing all those years ago. The only thing that changed about him was his hair, which he grew a few inches longer.

"Peach!" he whispered excitedly. "It's you!" He glanced behind her at Luigi. "And Luigi, it's nice to see you! I would have offered you a rose if none of them died in this cold weather."

Peach looked back at Luigi. His face went red.

Daisy watched both men and cracked her own smile. "So," she said to Peasley, "do you mind taking us to the storage area?"

He nodded. "Absolutely," he said. "That werewolf's going down in the jail, though. We must be quiet when we go by there."

"Were-werewolf?!" Luigi gasped. "Those things are re-"

Daisy slapped her gloved hand over his mouth and shushed him.

"Come on," Peasley whispered, "this way."

He began down the path to their right while the rest of the group followed closely behind.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"The jail is on the way to the storage area," Prince Peasley said. "The werewolf is there picking up an…" He shivered. "...Unpleasant prisoner."

"How are they unpleasant?" Peach asked.

"It would be best if you did not know," he said, shaking his head. "Let us just get past it. Perhaps we shall run if we must."

The group walked down the long hallway. As they did, Peach caught up with Peasley. She told him of her life these past few years, and Peasley did the same.

It turned out that Beanbean's prince had been working with Daisy for a while. While the boxes that came to Peach and her people were always labeled with Sarasaland's logo, usually about a quarter of it came from his kingdom

"Pauline makes up the rest of the shipments," Daisy cut in at one point. "Or maybe I should say that she used to."

Peach cocked her head.

"She hasn't responded to my requests for supplies in months," Daisy said. "My messages reach her, but she doesn't reply back."

"I wonder if Khione has to do with that," Peasley said. "She has been waging a trade war with the other kingdoms. With how big and successful New Donk is…" He sighed. "If you need more help in getting stuff in the future, let me know-"

The crash of a door echoed down the hallway.

Everyone froze.

Luigi squeaked.

"What was that?" Daisy asked.

Peasley swallowed. "Maybe… Maybe that was the werewolf and his prisoner?" He spun on his heel. "Come on, we must hurry."

The group dashed down the hallway.

There was a scream. Then there was howling. Then-

"Princess Peach?! _Help_!" a voice called. "He's got me!"

The group froze. If they were yelling for her, that would mean…

 _"Mama mia!"_ Luigi yelled. "We haven't been here for three minutes, and we're already gonna-"

"Shut up!" Daisy yelled back _. "Run!"_

The entire group fled down the hall. Peasley took the lead, followed by Daisy and Luigi. The paratroopas flew behind Peach.

"Why couldn't you have sent your things to Daisy?!" Luigi shouted at Peasley. "I didn't ask to be involved! I don't wanna- I don't…"

"You won't if we get out of here," Peasley said. "This was a bad idea the moment she suggested it! Sure, you get to take what you want or need from Khione's supplies, but couldn't have you _asked_ me to give it to you?!"

"Why didn't you say anything against the idea?" Daisy yelled back.

They reached a wide-open window.

"You seemed sure of yourself," Peasley said. "I thought I could get you all in, and then out, and that would be it."

 _"You, boy, are a fool."_

"What are you talking about?!" Peasley yelled. "I have legally been an adult for over-"

A laugh cut him off.

Peach spun around.

A tall, dark-haired beast towered over them, clutching a red Koopa shell. The paratroopa hiding inside of it whimpered.

 _"Perhaps it is time to reveal thyself, queen?"_ the werewolf said, his red eyes on the figure next to Peach.

"Right ahead of you," came another new voice.

Peach turned her head and nearly jumped out of her skin when she caught sight of the figure next to her.

There was a blue-skinned woman standing next to her now. The simple teal dress she wore matched her eyes.

"It's been five years," she said, "hasn't it?"

Peach's mouth opened and shut. She cringed under the monarch's narrowed, petrifying gaze.

The woman tilted her head. "Don't you recognize me?" she asked.

Peach hesitantly nodded.

"What's my name?" she said, grinning mischievously.

Peach met her eyes. She took a step back.

"Khione," she whimpered.

"I've known where you've been hiding for at least a month now," Khione said, her grin growing wider. "I wanted to play your little game for a while, hence the little delivery the other day, but this is the end for you."

"What did you do to Daisy?" Peach asked.

"Oh, her?" she said, laughing heartily. "I locked her up a few days ago after she tried to illegally cross the border. Sorry to disappoint you, Peachy."

Luigi quaked at the sight of Khione. He backed away, whimpering.

"We're gonna die," he said. "We're gonna die like…"

"No!" Prince Peasley shouted at him. "Take Peach and get out of here!" He pulled his sword from its sheath. "I'll fight her off." He turned to face the queen. "And Peach? I… I apologize for being stupid."

"Well, this should be fun," Khione snickered. "Get them!"

The world plunged into chaos.

Luigi grabbed Peach's arm and tugged on her.

Prince Peasley charged at Khione, yelling, "Never should have come here!"

The paratroopa the werewolf caught cried out as the werewolf roughly dropped him.

The paratroopa's brethren flew at the aggressor, screaming battle cries of their own.

Peach, wide-eyed, let Luigi drag her away from it all. Her eyes locked on the battle between Peasley and Khione. Or, rather, the lack thereof a battle.

The crown prince of the Beanbean Kingdom fell on a knee with a light-blue spear protruding from his back. He breathed a shaky breath and struggled to lift his sword.

 _No!_ Peach's mind cried. _This can't be happening! Not again!_

Prince Peasley couldn't die just like that! Not like _him_! Not like…

 _Mario._

Tears welled up in her eyes. She turned away and let a frightened Luigi roughly drag her away from the carnage.

Far, _far_ away from the carnage.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

How long had they run for? How long would it be until they stopped running? Where were they? When would he let her go?

Peach didn't know the answers to those questions. She tripped and fell into the snow while the brother of the man she once loved yelled at her to get up.

But she didn't. She cried and felt her hot tears fall upon the cold snow.

Everything had suddenly gone wrong. Khione showed up out of nowhere and had Daisy prisoner all this time. Peasley was probably dead, just like _that_. And her? She was an _idiot_.

Luigi pulled her out of the snow. He turned her around and met her eyes.

"Princess," he softly said. "Are you okay?"

She hung her head. She shook it.

"What," Peach asked, "just happened?"


	9. The End of the Underground

People screamed in the caverns below. Her soldiers were attacking and disarming those who reached for any sort of weaponry. Those who weren't occupied with those fools rounded up the underground hideout's inhabitants and forced them out into the snow.

Khione smiled and brushed a lock of white hair from her face. With Peach gone, she no longer worried about this little community growing strong enough to rebel against the kingdom. Who would risk helping her when the kingdom's new queen and her army could easily squash any idea of a rebellion?

 _"Your Majesty?"_

Her gaze drifted from the people of the underground to her general, Avronthius. Wisps of dark energy rolled off the beast's dark fur. He checked both of his claws and gave her a big toothy smile.

"Avron," she said, acknowledging him with a side-nod.

One of her most faithful servants was a werewolf. She planned the raid of Peasley's ship to coincide with his monthly transformation, which she felt glad to have done so. While she wished the raid would have led to Luigi's death, she found it funny how Mario's brother got too scared to do anything but flee.

 _"We have located Toadsworth,"_ Avron said. _"May we bring him forth?"_

"No," she said. "Quietly take him to the castle and lock him up."

 _"Are you sure?"_ he asked. _"I'd like more…"_ He licked his chops. _"Action, if I may put it that way."_

 _"_ You know that I don't approve of eating our prisoners," she said, "especially when they could be used as bargaining chips."

 _"May I snack on one of the other toads instead?"_

"...Maybe."

 _"I shall hold you to your word."_

Avronthius stalked away.

Khione turned to the crowd, which continued to grow as her little army drove them out. Just how many people hid down there?

She noticed how many in the crowd were watching her. A lot of them flinched when she stared back at them. A few wore angry expressions, and some of them didn't relent when she met their eyes.

 _Those are the ones who will cause trouble if nothing is done,_ she thought. She would have to report this to Avronthius later, and maybe increase the number of spies on the streets.

"Mom," a voice asked, "who's that?"

Khione slightly turned her head. She didn't look directly at the source of the noise, but she still made out the Goomba child peeking out at her.

"That's that…" His mother started to say before she hesitated. "That's the queen of the kingdom, dear."

"That's _her_?" he said. "Really?"

"Yes," she said. "She's the one who took over shortly after your first birthday."

"What's her name again?"

"Queen Khione."

"Is she a Toadstool?"

"Um… No," the mother said. "That was Princess Peach, dear."

Khione heard heavy panting behind the two. She turned her full attention to them.

The child cried out and ran behind his mom. He pressed himself against her backside.

Avronthius glared down at the mother. _"I suggest you stop referring to that renegade as a "princess" unless you want to be thrown into Queen Khione's dungeons,"_ he snarled at her. _"Peach lost her claim to the throne when she cowardly ran away from the castle."_

Khione nodded along with this. She turned and made her way to the forefront of the crowd.

"Now, I know you may be frightened," she said, "but I will not harm you."

Some of the people in the crowd gave her confused looks. She didn't find it to be a strange sight. In fact, she said the same thing to those who fled the underground a few years back, and they freaked until…

"That is," Khione went on, "unless you attempt to make trouble here, or within the town or your old homes."

She saw wide-eyed stares from people in the crowd. Perhaps they figured she dismantled or reused their old abodes.

"I never needed to use your homes for anything," she said. "They have instead sat abandoned for these past few years. My soldiers made sure of that."

"We… Get to move back into them?" somebody asked.

"Yes," Khione responded, barely glancing at the wide-eyed toad who said that. "And you may keep them if you abide by my laws."

She heard chattering from within the crowd.

"The most important of my laws," she said, her voice rising over theirs', "which I should mention upfront, is that you refrain from using fire, aside from those that come from a stove or fireplace. They may be used as long as my soldiers, or myself if it ever came to that, aren't in your homes.

"Additionally, anyone caught using a fire flower will be jailed and put to hard labor for upwards to six months. And for those who happen to abuse an innate ability for fire…" She gave the crowd a wide grin. "I would dare you to try anything with it."

The chatter resumed. People seemed torn between anger and disbelief. Khione found it rare to see somebody smiling and laughing in their group.

A beast, whose body mixed the strong muscles a bull's with a humanoid's shape, silently came up from the entrance to the underground. He shoved a hoof in his captive's, an elderly toad's, mouth. He hurried by the crowd and disappeared into the trees.

Her other soldiers made walls around the crowd. They stared them down.

"Now," Khione said, "I believe it is time for you all to go home. My army will show you back to them, and I expect you to stay in your homes until _I_ say otherwise. Am I understood?"

A mixture of "Yes"es and nodding came from everyone.

"Good. Now, if you would please follow my men back home…"

They all began to march towards the town in the distance. When they were all out of earshot, Khione turned to see Avronthius leaning on a tree.

 _"You promised me a toad,"_ he growled at her.

"And I said _maybe_ ," she said.

 _"Maybe is supposed to mean_ yes _, Ms. Frostbite."_

Her eyes narrowed. "Did we not agree to not call me by my last name?" she asked him.

He rolled his eyes. _"Forget this,"_ he said, sighing loudly. _"I'll go hunt something in the woods."_

Avronthius turned and leaped into the forest behind him. He disappeared into the endless snowy night.

 _He is lucky I let him get away with that behavior during his transformations,_ Khione thought. _I would otherwise send him back to the darkness he came from._ She looked up at her castle. _It's time to return home._

She disappeared with a whip of the frosty winds.

The underground tunnels once occupied by Peach's people remained opened. Snow coated the marble steps leading down into it.

A figure raced out into the open. He towered over the average koopa, but he still had a few years before he could stand at the height of someone like Princess Peach or even a New Donker.

"This is perfect!" he said to himself. He didn't see Khione take anything but the people out of the underground. That meant that all of Princess Peach's food and supplies belonged to _him_ now.

The koopa child laughed gleefully. He bounced down the steps. He turned around only to shut the door to the caverns behind him.


	10. A Chance Encounter

"Luigi…" Peach gasped out. "Please…"

Luigi came to a stop.

Peach pulled her hand out of his. She swallowed big gulps of the cold air.

"Princess?" he inquired, raising his eyebrows.

"It's been a while since I've run like this," she puffed out. "I'm sorry if I'm slowing us down."

"No-not at all," Luigi answered.

Miles upon miles of dead trees surrounded the clearing. They creaked sadly in the cold's winds.

"Where is this?" Peach asked.

"The way to Evershade Valley," Luigi replied.

"Evershade? Isn't that where—"

"Where Professor E. Gadd lives. He'll take us in."

"I'm to assume we're going the right way?"

Luigi smiled. "We are. I'm sure of it."

"Then I trust you, Luigi," Peach said. "Lead the way."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _"Get up already!"_

Waluigi jumped awake. He frantically scanned the area for any possible threats. When none presented themselves, he let a "Phew!"

Wario stood over a small campfire. "About time," he groused. "You could've passed for a dead man."

Waluigi stretched his arms. "Shut up," he retorted.

Wario waddled over to him. "Here," he said, "I found this earlier." He dropped a red mushroom into his lap.

Waluigi frowned at him. "But what about all of the food we packed—"

"I ate it."

 _"All of it?"_

Wario shrugged. He turned away.

Waluigi's gaze turned stone cold. He scooped up the red mushroom with his good hand.

 _How could he?_ he thought, ripping his teeth through the 'shroom. _That should've lasted us until we got back to Toad Town._

Wario went back to the campfire. He picked up a small stick.

Waluigi suspiciously eyed the stick. The thing attached to it was a reddish-brown color. It dangled from the stick like bait for a fish—

"There's still some left!" he yelled, jumping up. "Give it to me."

Wario shook his head at him.

"I'm _starving_!' Waluigi yelled. "I need to eat meat too!"

Wario brought the stick to his mouth. "Nah," he said. He shoved the slab of meat down his throat without another word.

" _Wehehe_!" Waluigi cried, jumping on him. "Spit that out! I swear by the stars…"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _"Wehehe!"_

Luigi froze mid-step. "Oh no," he squeaked out.

"Huh?" Peach said, staring in the direction of the new voice.

"It's been five years," Luigi said, shrinking behind her, "but that's him."

"Waluigi?" she pondered aloud. "I certainly recognize that voice."

Luigi didn't respond to that.

"We should check it out," she said.

Luigi spun around. _"What?!_ You're crazy! He'll hurt or insult you or…"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 _"What?!"_

The two men stopped fighting when they heard a nasally voice cry out.

Wario got up from his seat on Waluigi's leg. He dragged himself away from the fire.

"Doesn't that sound like Luigi?" Wario questioned his friend.

"It did," he said, getting up to join him.

Wario pushed down the thorns of a bush.

Waluigi swore he saw a flash of pink and red in the near-darkness. He leaned closer to the figure.

"This way," she said, pointing straight ahead of her. Or rather, straight at Waluigi's nose. Or maybe she poked it.

He recoiled from the touch. He reflexively grabbed at his pink nose.

The figure similarly stumbled back. "Who's there?" she asked.

Wario spoke up. "Princess?"

She made a strange motion in the dark. "That couldn't be…?"

"Wario," he said.

"Wario?!" she shouted, racing forward. "It's me, Peach! It's nice to see— To hear, I mean, a friendly voice around here… Oh, there's that old bush between us…"

A skinny woman came into the light of their campfire. She indeed wore pink and red; her dress was bright pink and she wore a red hood over her blonde hair.

"It _is_ you," Princess Peach gasped. "I didn't imagine that we'd see you again."

"Shouldn't you be living in an underground cavern?" Waluigi asked.

She bowed her head. "That's… A long story," she answered.

"Must be," Wario said, "if the princess showed up here outta nowhere."

"We're heading to Professor Elvin Gadd's laboratory—"

Another person, clothed in green and blue, popped up from behind Peach. "We've got to keep going, Peach," he said. "Come on."

Waluigi's eyes narrowed. " _Luigi_ ," he hissed.

Luigi stopped pulling on Peach. He gulped.

"Your stupid brother's the one who got us all into this mess!" Waluigi said.

Luigi cringed.

Peach's gaze hardened. She moved to cover him.

"I'm surprised you aren't as dead as he is," Waluigi went on to say. "Then again, Khione would have publicly displayed your—"

Wario roughly stomped on his shoe.

 _"Owie!"_ Waluigi yelped, pulling it loose.

"Shut it," Wario mumbled to him. "Don't tell them about _that_."

A couple of shivers went down Waluigi's spine when he thought of what "that" meant. He couldn't be crude when the former princess of the Mushroom Kingdom was involved. Especially when it came to what happened to…

Peach wore a confused look on her face. "Publicly display our…"

"Nevermind it, princess," Wario said. "You're going to Gaddfly's place, right?"

She nodded.

"Then get outta here," he told her, "and be careful. The old man told us that Luigi's old buddy's out and about again."

"Ki-king Boo?" Luigi sputtered, his eyes growing wide. "Oh no, not again…"

"Hey, on the bright side, he can't kidnap Mario anymore," Wario said.

Peach recoiled. Her lips pulled back into a cringe.

Waluigi glared at him. "I can't tell them about what happened with Mario's body," he said, "while you're allowed to make jokes about his _death_?!" He jabbed a thumb at the princess. "I don't like either of the brothers, but wasn't that in poor taste?"

"What… Happened to Mario's body?" Peach questioned.

Waluigi's mouth dropped.

"Oh, you've done it now!" Wario yelled. "How would I tell her about her man being displayed like a trophy shortly after his death?"

" _What?!"_ Luigi yelled.

They turned to face him. Both of their mouths fell gaping open.

"...Oops," Waluigi said, elbowing Wario.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Dark storm clouds roamed the skies. Once in a while, there would be a break in them and the stars would shine on down on the world.

Peach watched the ground roll by. Her hood covered her face, exposing the ends of her blonde hair.

Wario and Waluigi walked at their sides. They had silently agreed to be the two refugees' escorts after Wario's stupid blunder. Telling Peach and Luigi what ultimately happened to their beloved hero severely dampened everyone's moods. Well, really, Wario and Waluigi hadn't been in a good mood since their treasure map turned out to be a dud.

When the Moon rose, signaling the start of an actual night, they stopped and made a small campfire.

Nobody mentioned anything to anyone. Not even Peach and Luigi talked to each other, about their old friend and brother or what else. Even worse, they all went to bed hungry while lying on the cold, hard ground, and Waluigi's bandage made him scratch at his bad hand like mad.

None of them got any sleep that night.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The next "morning", they immediately set out. There was no breakfast served over an open fire. Waluigi had to drag Wario around for a while before he fully woke up.

While the two of them argued, Luigi slowed down to match Peach's pace. He studied the oddly blank expression on her face.

"Princess?" he said.

"Yes, Luigi?" she said back.

"How are you feeling?"

She clamped her eyes shut. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Not only did Khione end... His life, but..." She shook her head. "I can't possibly think about it."

"The thought of her doing that to him makes me squeamish too," he said. "He deserved a burial right away."

"I wish we could have recovered his body. Maybe I'd feel more at ease if I knew it was safe."

"I want to know if his spirit peacefully passed on. He went through a lot."

"Maybe we should ask the professor to look into that," Peach said.

"Maybe," Luigi agreed. Half-way through a nod, he stopped walking and tacked on a, "...Wait."

"What?" Peach said, stopping as well.

"Peach," he said, "may-maybe we could ask the professor if he knows how to bring back the dead. Maybe there's a way to save him!"

" _Ugh,"_ Waluigi groaned, passing them by. "You aren't supposed to bring back the dead. He'd probably come back all wrong."

Peach frowned at him as he passed by her.

"How does he know that?" Luigi asked.

She gently patted his shoulder and continued down the path after Waluigi. "We won't know if we can do anything until we ask the professor about it," she said. "Let's go."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The purple Dark Moon was shining at its brightest when the group finally reached Evershade Valley. Dead trees littered the landscape around them. A path led straight up to Gloomy Manor, which reached for the moonlit sky.

Luigi practically ran to the professor's tiny white laboratory building in front of the manor. He banged on the front door.

Everyone else gathered behind him.

There was movement inside of the building. Somebody yelped and then there was a crash and a loud, irritating screech.

The door swung open to reveal a small man… Or a child? The person standing on a stool to the right of the doorway was a toad child, dressed as one of his people normally would be back in the old Mushroom Kingdom.

"They're back?" he thought aloud.

Princess Peach stepped forward.

The toad gasped when he saw her face under the hut's poor light.

 _"Princess?!"_ he cried.

She smiled at him. "Could you please let us in?" she asked. "We'd like to see Elvin."

The toad nodded. "Well, come in," he said, opening the door all the way. He turned around. "I'll go tell him the princess is here!"

He ran off.

Everyone piled into the small laboratory. Waluigi, the last one in, closed the door behind them.


	11. Crossing Worlds

"Lord Bowser!" someone shouted. "She's back!"

Bowser looked up from Ludwig, who glared at him from the foot of his throne. He waved dismissively at him.

"I've had enough of your nonsense," Bowser said.

"But my lord," Ludwig said, "I don't believe we can trust—"

 _"GET OUT!"_ Bowser roared.

The Koopaling scurried away into another room.

Bowser lounged back in his throne. He watched as a hooded figure walked through the opening throne room doors.

"You're back," he said, "already?"

Morganthia threw off her hood, once again revealing her Peach-like face. "It was _so easy_ to figure out the teleportation spell," she said. "In fact, I wonder why you've kept Kamek as your court mage. He clearly hasn't been trained well enough."

Said court mage huffed. He gripped the broom at his side ever so tighter.

"So you really did it," Bowser said.

"We can finally bring her over," Morgan said. "All that must be done now is to cast the spell." She whipped out a black stick with a white star at its end. "...Like so."

She waved her wand around while pointing it at the ground. Her eyebrows knit together in concentration.

"Oh no," one of the koopa troopas guarding Bowser's doorway whimpered, "not again."

As if using this as a cue, the castle shook. The koopa screamed and withdrew into his shell. A small spear clattered to floor next to him.

Outside of the throne room, people screamed. Kamek leaped into the air with his broom, while Bowser had the misfortune of bouncing off his throne.

The king fell forward with a surprised cry. He rolled down the steps, completing a full somersault before the shaking abruptly stopped.

Morgan let out an ear-piercing giggle at the various bodies on the floor around her, including Ludwig, who previously watched her from the corner. "Whoops," she said. "Maybe I could've been gentler with my wand."

"And you're telling me I haven't been trained well enough!" Kamek yelled at her. "Any harder with those swishes and you could have leveled the castle!"

"But you can't argue with the result, can you?" she asked. "Do I look like I'm about to drop dead?"

A large green pipe had seamlessly emerged from carpet leading up to the throne. The sound of wind blew inside it, while a strange smell…

"It still has that weird cheese smell," Kamek grunted.

Morgan shrugged. "Again, you can't argue with the result."

Bowser stomped over to the pipe.

"Where will this take us?" he asked.

"Inside of her house," Morgan answered. "Most likely inside of her bathroom."

"So like it did last time?" Kamek said.

"I could make the pipe appear outside of the house," Morgan said, "but the people of her world would most likely freak out at the sight of a giant koopa appearing in her front yard. They might even turn their advanced technology on such a creature." She shivered. "I hope you never get shot by what her people call a "gun". I've heard that their bullets can be painful."

Bowser snorted. He placed his hands on the pipe's opening. "I doubt their weapons could stop me. I'm Lord Bowser!"

"Brave words of a koopa who doesn't know they also have nuclear bombs," Morgan mumbled.

"What bombs?" Bowser said, emphasizing the "what".

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "Now, I imagine you'd like to see her, so why don't you go down that pipe? The fate of the world, and of Princess Peach, rests in your claws."

Bowser perked up at the mention of Peach. He lifted a heavy leg into the pipe.

"Wa-wait!" Ludwig yelled, racing forward. "Are we sure about this?! Sh-she's—" he gestured at Morgan. "She's one of _them_! Can we really trust her—"

"SHUT IT!" he yelled back at him. "Don't question your king."

Ludwig flinched. He took a step away from the king.

"Kamek, remind me to demote this fool," Bowser said. He's been nothing but a NUISANCE as of late."

"Noted, sir," his court mage said.

"Now, where were we?" Bowser dropped his other leg into the giant pipe. "I'm leaving Roy in charge until I've returned!"

"Roy?!" Ludwig cried. "My Lord, you can't possibly…"

Bowser heard no more of his complaining as he slid down the warp pipe.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Stephen Brown was about to take a shower. He draped his towel over the bar next to the tub. He turned the knob, eager to feel hot water on his tired, aged skin. So once the droplets warmed to a favorable degree, he slipped into the shower and sighed contently. He reached for a bar of soap sitting on a nearby perch.

He scrubbed the inside of his arm with the soap. He started to hum the tune to some popular TV show, though nobody but him could possibly know what it could be. Stephen was _unbelievably_ tone-deaf.

Unbeknownst to him, the seat of his pristine, white toilet shifted. Then it lifted. An object emerged sideways out of its bowl. It grew in size until it encompassed the entire opening of the toilet, and reached for the opposite wall.

Finally, something shot from the pipe. It flew, screaming, until it faceplanted against the wall.

Stephen stopped soaping his arm. He looked over his shoulder. "What the..."

He couldn't believe his eyes. Jutting from the toilet was a strange green object. What was that _thing?_

Something by the laundry basket moved.

He froze.

"My head…" a figure, robed in blue, complained as he sat up. "Eurgh…"

 _"Who are you?!"_ Stephen yelled. He cowered behind his conveniently-placed towel.

The figure jumped up at the sight of him. _"O_ _h my!"_ it yelled, showcasing its yellow snout and big round glasses to the man. It moved to cover its eyes. "Show some _decency_!"

"Yo-you're the one who came out of that… That thing!" he yelled back. " _What_ are you?!"

The green pipe, he _supposed_ it was a pipe, rumbled again. Something unholy _roared_ from within its depths.

"Lord Bowser!" the strange creature said. It hopped to its feet.

"...Bowser?" Stephen said.

The creature lifted a small yellow rod with a red gemstone, perhaps a ruby, embedded at its top. It waved it around.

A shot of colorful magic hit the pipe. The pipe chugged up and down not unlike a steam engine would in one of those old cartoons.

Stephen watched in horror as a giant creature with a spiky green shell slipped from the pipe's grasp. He landed in a sitting position on the tiled flooring with a gigantic _crash_.

"...Thank you," the other new creature uttered in a growly voice. He glanced about.

Stephen let out a little squeak. He backed into the bathtub wall.

"Please let this be a weird dream," he said. "Dear God, aliens in my _bathroom_...?"

"Uh…" Of all things the reptile might have expected, it wasn't a grown man cowering in a bathtub.

The grown man _really_ hadn't expected them either.

"Lord Bowser means you no harm!" the smaller creature said. "We simply wish to meet your—"

"Leader?" Stephen said. "Uh, yes! He lives in the White House in Washington D.C. Take him, not me!"

"What, no!" it cried. "We're here for—"

"Father? What the hell is going on in there?"

The bathroom door opened. A girl stuck her head into the room. Her brown locks were mostly straight, only curling inward at the very ends. Her red sweater shone against the white bathroom. It was only illuminated further by the bright light bulbs over everyone's heads.

The giant reptile's and her eyes met.

She cringed.

His red pupils narrowed.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" she said. "I think I'll leave you guys alone…"

The door slammed shut.

Bowser reached over and reopened the door. He peered out of it.

"Hey," he said, sticking his large head out into the hallway, "kid? We gotta talk."

* * *

 **This particular plotline will continue after Seeing Red's Chapter 28, which you will be able to find on FFN if you're reading this on Archive of Our Own. Reading the entire fic isn't required, but it's MitMK's sister fic and all of their plotlines will eventually be tied together.**

 **That said, have a good day!**

 **Goat in the Sewer [FFN]/Rune_Spell [Ao3]**


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